Lucy Maud Montgomery
| birthplace = Clifton, Prince Edward Island | deathdate = April | deathplace = Toronto, Ontario | occupation = Novelist | nationality = Canadian | education = | alma_mater = Prince of Wales College, Dalhousie University | period = 1891–1939 | genre = Children's literature | notableworks = Anne of Green Gables | spouse = Ewan Mcdonald | children = Chester and Stuart | signature = |influenced = Stephenie Meyer, Kit Pearson]], Tracy Chevalier, Rachna Gilmore, Astrid Lindgren | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = }} Lucy Maud Montgomery ''' CBE (November 30, 1874 - April 24, 1942) (or '''L.M. Montgomery, called "Maud" by family and friends) was a Canadian poet and novelist. Montgomery's work, diaries, and letters have been read and studied by scholars and readers worldwide.http://www.lmmontgomery.ca/ Life Overview Montgomery is best known for a series of children's novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables, published in 1908. Anne of Green Gables was an immediate success. The central character, Anne, an orphaned girl, made Montgomery famous in her lifetime and gave her an international following.Lucy Maud Montgomery and Anne. InfoPEI. Retrieved on: December 22, 2007 The 1st novel was followed by a series of sequels with Anne as the central character. Montgomery published 20 novels, as well as 500 short stories and poems. Because many of the novels were set on Prince Edward Island, Canada and the Canadian province became literary landmarks. Youth and education Montgomery was born in Clifton (now New London), Prince Edward Island on November 30, 1874. Her mother, Clara Woolner Macneill Montgomery, died of tuberculosis when the daughter was 21 months old (a year and 9 months). Stricken with grief over his wife’s death, Hugh Montgomery gave custody over to Montgomery’s maternal grandparents.McLeod, Carol. Legendary Canadian Women. Hantsport: Lancelot Press Limited, 1983. 79. Her father moved to Saskatchewan when Montgomery was 7 years old. She went to live with her maternal grandparents, Alexander Marquis Macneill and Lucy Woolner Macneill, in the nearby community of Cavendish and was raised by them in a strict and unforgiving manner. Montgomery’s early life in Cavendish was very lonely. Despite having relations nearby, much of her childhood was spent alone. Montgomery credits this time of her life, in which she created many imaginary friends and worlds to cope with her loneliness, as what developed her creative mind.Bourgoin, Suzanne Michelle ed. "Lucy Maud Montgomery." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd. 11. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998. p.136. In November 1890, Montgomery's earliest published work appeared in the Charlottetown newspaper, Daily Patriot. She was as excited about this as she was about her return to her beloved Prince Edward Island, in 1891. The return 'home' was a great relief to her. Her home life was unhappy due to the fact that Montgomery and her stepmother, Mary Ann McRae, did not get along,Rawlinson, H Graham, and J.L. Granatstein. The Canadian 100, The 100 Most Influential Canadians of The 20th Century. Toronto: Little, Brown & Company (Canada) Limited, 1997. p. 145. and because by, "... Maud’s account, her father's marriage was not a happy one." In 1893, following the completion of her grade school education in Cavendish, she attended Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown. Completing a 2-year program in a year, she obtained her teaching certificate. In 1895 and 1896, she studied literature at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Early career and romances Upon leaving Dalhousie, Montgomery worked as a teacher in various island schools. Montgomery did not enjoy her teaching career; however, she was content because it afforded her time to write. Beginning in 1897, she began to have her short stories published in various magazines and newspapers. A prolific talent, Montgomery had over 100 stories published from 1897 to 1907 inclusive. During her teaching years, Montgomery had numerous love interests. As a highly fashionable young woman, she enjoyed "slim, good looks," and she was the attention of several young men. In 1889, Montgomery began a relationship with a Cavendish boy named Nate Lockhart. To Montgomery, the relationship was merely a humorous and witty friendship. It ended abruptly when Montgomery refused his marriage proposal. The early 1890's brought unwelcome advances from John A. Mustard and Will Pritchard. Mr. Mustard, her teacher, quickly became her suitor who tried to impress her with his knowledge of religious matters. His best topics of conversation were his thoughts on Predestination and "other dry points of theology." He held little appeal for Montgomery. During the period when Mustard’s interest became more pronounced, Montgomery found a new interest in Will Pritchard, the brother of her friend Laura Pritchard. This friendship was more amiable; however, again, Montgomery felt less than her suitor did for her. When Pritchard sought to take their friendship further, Montgomery resisted. Montgomery refused marriage proposals from both because the former was narrow-minded and latter was merely a good chum. She ended the period of flirtation when she moved to Prince Edward Island. However, she and Pritchard did keep up correspondence over six years until Pritchard caught influenza and died in 1897. In 1897, Montgomery accepted the proposal of Ed Simpson, who was a student in French River near Cavendish.Jane Urquhart, L.M. Montgomery. Toronto: Penguin Canada, 2009. 24 Montgomery wrote that she accepted his proposal out of a desire for "love and protection" and because she felt her prospects were rather low. While teaching in Lower Bedeque, she had a brief but passionate romantic attachment to Herman Leard, a member of the family with which she boarded.Gammel, Irene. The Intimate Life of L.M. Montgomery. University of Toronto Press, 2005. 129-153. In 1898, after much unhappiness and disillusionment, Montgomery broke off her engagement to Simpson. Montgomery no longer sought romantic love. In 1898, Montgomery moved back to Cavendish to live with her widowed grandmother. For a short time in 1901 and 1902, she worked in Halifax for the newspapers Chronicle and Echo. She returned to live with her grandmother in 1902. Montgomery was inspired to write her earliest books during this time on Prince Edward Island. Over the next 13 years, Montgomery stayed in Cavendish to take care of her grandmother. This coincided with period of considerable income from her publications. Although she enjoyed this income, she was aware that “marriage was a necessary choice for women in Canada.” In 1908, Montgomery published her debut novel, Anne of Green Gables. Novels and marriage , 1919. ''Courtesy Internet Archive.]] In 1911, shortly after her grandmother's death, Montgomery married Ewan Macdonald (1870–1943), a Presbyterian Minister, and they moved to Ontario where he had taken the position of minister of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Leaskdale in present-day Uxbridge Township, also affiliated with the congregation in nearby Zephyr. They had 3 sons, the 2nd of whom was stillborn. Montgomery wrote her next 11 books from the Leaskdale manse. The great increase of her writings in Leaskdale is the result of her need to escape the hardships of real life.McLeod, Carol. Legendary Canadian Women. Hantsport: Lancelot Press Limited, 1983. p. 87. Montgomery underwent several periods of depression while trying to cope with the duties of motherhood and church life and with her husband’s attacks of religious melancholia and deteriorating health: "For a woman who had given the world so much joy was mostly an unhappy one." For much of her life, writing was her one great solace. Also, during this time, Montgomery was engaged in a series of "acrimonious, expensive and trying lawsuits with the publisher L.C. Page, which dragged on until she finally won in 1929."Bourgoin, Suzanne Michelle ed. "Lucy Maud Montgomery." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd. 11. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998. 137. In 1926, the family moved in to the Norval Presbyterian Charge, in present-day Halton Hills, Ontario, In 1935, upon her husband's retirement, Montgomery moved to Swansea, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, buying a house which she named Journey's End, situated on the Humber River. Montgomery continued to write, publishing Anne of Windy Poplars in 1936, Jane of Lantern Hill in 1937, and Anne of Ingleside in 1939. In the last year of her life, Montgomery completed what she intended to be a 9th book featuring Anne, titled The Blythes Are Quoted. It included 15 short stories (many of which were previously published) that she revised to include Anne and her family as mainly peripheral characters; 41 poems (most of which were previously published) that she attributed to Anne and to her son Walter, who died as a soldier in the Great War; and vignettes featuring the Blythe family members discussing the poems. An abridged version, which shortened and reorganized the stories and omitted the vignettes and all but 1 of the poems, was published as a collection of short stories, The Road to Yesterday, in 1974. A complete edition of The Blythes Are Quoted, edited by Benjamin Lefebvre, was published in its entirety by Viking Canada in October 2009. Death It was reported that Montgomery died from coronary thrombosis in Toronto.Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volume V: 1935-1942, 399: The primary cause of death on her certificate was "Coronary Thrombosis." However, it was revealed by her granddaughter, Kate Macdonald Butler, in September 2008 that Montgomery suffered from depression - possibly as a result of caring for her mentally ill husband for decades - and took her own life via a drug overdose. But, there is another point of view. According to Mary Rubio, who wrote a biography of Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings (2008), the message was intended to be a journal entry rather than a suicide note. She was buried at the Cavendish Community Cemetery in Cavendish following her wake in the Green Gables farmhouse and funeral in the local Presbyterian church. Recognition During her lifetime, Montgomery published 20 novels, over 500 short stories, an autobiography, and a book of poetry. Aware of her fame, by 1920 Montgomery began editing and recopying her journals, presenting her life as she wanted it remembered. In doing so certain episodes were changed or omitted. Although Montgomery published over 20 books, "she never felt she achieved her one 'great' book." Her readership, however, has always found her characters and stories to be among the best in fiction. Mark Twain said Montgomery’s Anne was “the dearest and most moving and delightful child since the immortal Alice. Montgomery was honored by being the 1st female in Canada to be named a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in England, and by being invested in the Order of the British Empire in 1935. Montgomery was designated a Person of National Historic Significance by the Government of Canada in 1943.Lucy Maud Montgomery, Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada Her fame was not limited to Canadian audiences. Anne of Green Gables became a success worldwide. For example, every year, thousands of Japanese tourists "make a pilgrimage to a green-gabled Victorian farmhouse in the town of Cavendish on Prince Edward Island". A national park was established near Mongomery's home in Cavendish in honour of her works. Montgomery's home of Leaskdale Manse (now the Lucy Maud Montgomery Leaskdale Manse Museum) in Ontario, and the area surrounding Green Gables and her Cavendish home in Prince Edward Island, have both been designated National Historic Sites of Canada. The Norval Presbyterian Charge, in present-day Halton Hills, Ontario, where Montgomery lived 1926-1935, is home to the Lucy Maud Montgomery Memorial Garden, which can be seen from Highway 7. The earliest biography of Montgomery was The Wheel of Things: A biography of L.M. Montgomery, (1975) written by Mollie Gillen. Dr. Gillen also discovered over 40 of Montgomery's letters to her pen-friend George Boyd MacMillan in Scotland and used them as the basis for her work. Beginning in the 1980s, her complete journals, edited by Mary Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston, were published by the Oxford University Press. From 1988-95, editor Rea Wilmshurst collected and published numerous short stories by Montgomery. Publications Poetry *''The Watchman, and other poems. Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, 1916; New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1917. *''The Poetry of Lucy Maud Montgomery (edited by John Ferns & Kevin McCabe). Markham, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1987. Novels *''Anne of Green Gables. Boston: L.C. Page, 1908; London: Isaac Pitman, 1908; audio *Anne of Avonlea'' (sequel to Anne of Green Gables)/ Boston: L.C. Page, 1909; New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1909; Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1909. audio *''Kilmeny of the Orchard. Boston: L.C. Page, 1910; London: Isaac Pitman, 1910; Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1910. *The Story Girl. Boston: L.C. Page, 1911; Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1911; London: Isaac Pitman, 1911. audio *The Golden Road'' (1913) (sequel to The Story Girl). Boston: L.C. Page, 1913; New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1913. audio *''Anne of the Island'' (sequel to Anne of Avonlea). New York: Grossett & Dunlap, 1915; Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1915; London: Isaac Pitman, 1915. audio *''Anne's House of Dreams'' (sequel to Anne of Windy Poplars). New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1917; Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild, & Stewart, 1917. *''Rainbow Valley'' (sequel to Anne of Ingleside). New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1919; New York: A.L. Burt, 1919; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1919. audio *''Rilla of Ingleside'' (sequel to Rainbow Valley). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1921; New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1921. audio *''Emily of New Moon''. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1923; London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1923; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1923. *''Emily Climbs'' (sequel to Emily of New Moon). New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1925; London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1925; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1925. *''The Blue Castle''. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1926; New York: A.L. Burt, 1926; London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1926; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1926. *''Emily's Quest'' (sequel to Emily Climbs). New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1927; London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1927; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1927. *''Magic for Marigold''. New York: Stokes, 1929; London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1929; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1929. *''A Tangled Web''. New York: Stokes, 1931; New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1931; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1931. *''Pat of Silver Bush''. New York: Stokes, 1933; New York: A.L. Burt, 1933; London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1933; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1933. *''Mistress Pat'' (sequel to Pat of Silver Bush). New York: Stokes, 1935; New York: A.L. Burt, 1935; London: Harrap, 1935; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1935. *''Anne of Windy Poplars'' (sequel to Anne of the Island). New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1936; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1936 **published in UK as Anne of Windy Willows. London: Harrap, 1936; Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1939. *''Jane of Lantern Hill''. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1937; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1937. *''Anne of Ingleside'' (sequel to Anne's House of Dreams). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1939; New York: Stokes, 1939. *''The Blythes Are Quoted'' (edited by Benjamin Lefebvre) (2009) (sequel to Rilla of Ingleside). Toronto: Viking, 2009. Short fiction *''Chronicles of Avonlea. Boston: L.C. Page, 1912; London: Sampson, Low, Marston, 1912. *Further Chronicles of Avonlea. Boston: L.C. Page, 1920; Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1920; London: Harrap, 1925. *''The Road to Yesterday. Toronto & New York: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1974. *''The Doctor's Sweetheart, and other stories'' (selected by Catherine McLay). Toronto & New York: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1979. *''Akin to Anne: Tales of other orphans'' (edited by Rea Wilmshurst). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1988; New York: Bantam, 1988. *''Along the Shore: Tales by the sea'' (edited by Rea Wilmshurst). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1988; New York: Bantam, 1989. *''Among the Shadows: Tales from the darker side'' (edited by Rea Wilmshurst). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1990; New York: Bantam, 1990. *''After Many Days: Tales of time passed'' (edited by Rea Wilmshurst). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1991; New York: Bantam, 1992. *''Against the Odds: Tales of achievement'' (edited by Rea Wilmshurst). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1993; New York: Bantam, 1993. *''At the Altar: Matrimonial tales'' (edited by Rea Wilmshurst). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1994; New York: Bantam, 1995. *''Across the Miles: Tales of correspondence'' (edited by Rea Wilmshurst). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1995; New York: Bantam, 1997. *''Christmas with Anne, and other holiday stories'' (edited by Rea Wilmshurst). New York: Delacorte, 1995; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1995. Short stories in chronological order *''Short Stories, 1896 to 1901. Project Gutenberg, 2008; Oxford, UK: Oxford City Press, 2011; Lanham, MD: Start Classics, 2014. *Short Stories, 1902 to 1903. Project Gutenberg, 2008; Oxford, UK: Oxford City Press, 2012; Lanham, MD: Start Classics, 2014. *Short Stories, 1904. Project Gutenberg, 2008; Oxford, UK: Oxford City Press, 2012; Lanham, MD: Start Classics, 2014. *Short Stories, 1905 to 1906. Project Gutenberg, 2008; Lanham, MD: Start, 2012. *Short Stories, 1907 to 1908. Project Gutenberg, 2008; Oxford, UK: Oxford City Press, 2012; Lanham, MD: Start Classics, 2014. *Short Stories, 1909 to 1922. Project Gutenberg, 2008; Oxford, UK: Oxford City Press, 2012; Lanham, MD: Start Classics, 2014. Non-fiction *''Courageous Women (1934) (with Marian Keith & Mabel Burns McKinley). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1934. *''The Alpine Path: The story of my career'' (originally published in Everywoman's World, 1917). Don Mills, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1974. Letters and journals *''The Green Gables Letters: From L.M. Montgomery to Ephraim Weber, 1905-1909'' (edited by Wilfrid Eggleston). Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1960. *''My Dear Mr. M: Letters to G.B. MacMillan'' (edited by Elizabeth Rollins Epperly & Francis W.P. Bolger). Toronto & New York: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1980. *''Selected Journals'' (edited by Mary Rubio & Elizabeth Waterston). (5 volumes), Oxford, UK, & Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1987–2010. Volume I: 1889-1910, Volume II: 1910-1921, Volume III: 1921-1929, ''Volume IV: 1929-1935, ''Volume V: 1935-1942. *''After Green Gables: L.M. Montgomery's letters to Ephraim Weber, 1916-1941'' (edited by Paul Tiesen & Hildi Froese Tiesen). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006. *''Imagining Anne: The island scrapbooks of L.M. Montgomery'' (edited by Elizabeth Rollins Epperly & Francis W. Bolger). Toronto & New York: Penguin, 2008. *''Complete Journals: The PEI years, 1889-1900'' (edited by Elizabeth Rollins Epperly & Francis W. Bolger). Don Mills, ON, & Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2012. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Lucy Maud Montgomery, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 20, 2014. See also *Prince Edward Island poets *List of Canadian poets References *Catherine M. Andronik, Kindred Spirit: A biography of Lucy Maud Montgomery. New York: Atheneum 1993. * * * Fonds Her major collections are archived at the [[University of Guelph, while the L.M. Montgomery Institute at the University of Prince Edward Island coordinates most of the research and conferences surrounding her work. * L.M. Montgomery Collection at the University of Guelph Library, Archival and Special Collections (contains her personal journals, scrapbooks, and more than 800 items) Notes External links ;Poems *2 poems by Montgomery; 'September," "The Christmas Night" * Selected Poetry of Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) (6 poems) at Representative Poetry Online *L.M. Montgomery in Canadian Poets: 5 poems *Lucy Maud Montgomery profile & poems at My Poetic Side *Lucy Maud Montgomery at PoemHunter (97 poems) ;Audio / video *Lucy Maud Montgomery at YouTube ;Books * *Works by L.M. Montgomery at Project Gutenberg Australia *Picturing A Canadian Life: L.M. Montgomery's Personal Scrapbooks and Book Covers *L.M. Montgomery at Amazon.com ;About * The L.M. Montgomery Literary Society This site includes information about Montgomery's works and life and research from the newsletter, The Shining Scroll. *Lucy Maud Montgomery's contract for Anne of Green Gables, 1907 ;Etc. *L.M. Montgomery Institute Official website *L.M. Montgomery Research Centre Highlights the extensive L.M. Montgomery collection at the University of Guelph Library Archival & Special Collections. *Lucy Maud Montgomery Leaskdale Manse Museum Website * The L.M. Montgomery Research Group is a site that includes a blog, an extensive bibliography of reference materials, and a complete filmography of all adaptations of Montgomery texts. Category:1874 births Category:1942 deaths Category:Canadian Christians Category:Canadian novelists Category:Canadian diarists Category:Canadian children's writers Category:Canadian women writers Category:Women diarists Category:People from Queens County, Prince Edward Island Category:Canadian Presbyterians Category:Dalhousie University alumni Category:Writers from Prince Edward Island Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:National Historic Persons of Canada Category:20th-century poets Category:Canadian poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets Category:Women novelists Category:20th-century women writers Category:Prince Edward Island poets